According to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the “deteriorating security posture” that is playing out across the region “is what happens when the United States is not engaged and lacks a clear foreign policy that includes strong U.S. leadership.”…

The country has been locked in violence and instability since Gaddafi, the former dictator, was ousted with American aid in 2011. Militia groups have had easy access to weapons, officials say, and some of the armed groups have focused their threats on Americans.

The Taliban have found success beyond their traditional strongholds in the rural south and are now dominating territory near crucial highways and cities that surround Kabul, the capital, in strategic provinces like Kapisa and Nangarhar.

Their advance has gone unreported because most American forces have left the field and officials in Kabul have largely refused to talk about it. The Afghan ministries have not released casualty statistics since an alarming rise in army and police deaths last year.

***

Four-star Gen. James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, used a speaking engagement at the Brookings Institute on Tuesday to deliver a stinging rebuke of the Obama administration’s handling of Iraq.

“I have a hard time believing that had we been there, and worked with the government, and worked with parliament, and worked with the minister of defense, the minister of interior, I don’t think we’d be in the same shape we’re in today,” Gen. Amos said, the Fiscal Times reported Wednesday…

“We may think we’re done with all of these nasty, thorny, tacky little things that are going on around the world — and I’d argue that if you’re in that nation, it’s not a tacky, little thing for you. We may think we’re done with them, but they’re not done with us,” the commandant of the Marine Corps added, the paper reported. “We’re probably the only country in the world that has the resources and the capability to be able to do some of this that others can’t.”

***

The draft Kerry passed to Israel on Friday shocked the cabinet ministers not only because it was the opposite of what Kerry told them less than 24 hours earlier, but mostly because it might as well have been penned by Khaled Meshal. It was everything Hamas could have hoped for.

The document recognized Hamas’ position in the Gaza Strip, promised the organization billions in donation funds and demanded no dismantling of rockets, tunnels or other heavy weaponry at Hamas’ disposal. The document placed Israel and Hamas on the same level, as if the first is not a primary U.S. ally and as if the second isn’t a terror group which overtook part of the Palestinian Authority in a military coup and fired thousands of rockets at Israel…

If Kerry did anything on Friday it was to thwart the possibility of reaching a cease-fire in Gaza. Instead of promoting a cease-fire, Kerry pushed it away. If this failed diplomatic attempt leads Israel to escalate its operation in Gaza, the American secretary of state will be one of those responsible for every additional drop of blood that is spilled.

***

A real U.S. president would give Kiev the weapons it needs, impose devastating sectoral sanctions on Moscow, reinstate our Central European missile-defense system, and make a Reaganesque speech explaining why.

Obama has done none of these things. Why should he? He’s on the right side of history.

Of course, in the long run nothing lasts. But history is lived in the here and now. The Soviets had only 70 years, Hitler a mere twelve. Yet it was enough to murder millions and rain ruin on entire continents. Bashar Assad, too, will one day go. But not before having killed at least 100,000 people…

The world is aflame and our leader is on the 14th green. The arc of history may indeed bend toward justice, Mr. President. But, as you say, the arc is long. The job of a leader is to shorten it, to intervene on behalf of “the fierce urgency of now.” Otherwise, why do we need a president? And why did you seek to become ours?

***

Luckily for America’s self-esteem, it was liberal Democrats that produced this particular shambles [in Libya]. If Republicans had done this, the media would be on the administration non-stop, perhaps comparing Samantha Power to Paul Wolfowitz—a well-meaning humanitarian way over her head who wrecked a country out of misguided ideology. There might also be some pointed questions for future presidential candidates who supported this fiasco. But since both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have their fingerprints all over Libya, there isn’t a lot of press hunger for a detailed, unsparing autopsy into this stinking corpse of policy flub.

If Obama were a Republican, the press and the weekly news shows would be ringing with hyperbolic, apocalyptic denunciations of the clueless incumbent who had failed to learn the most basic lessons of Iraq. Indeed, the MSM right now would be howling that Obama was stupider than Bush. Bush, our Journolist friends would now be saying ad nauseam, at least had the excuse that he didn’t know what happens when you overthrow a paranoid, genocidal, economically incompetent Arab tyrant in an artificial post-colonial state. But Obama did—or, the press would nastily say, he would have done if he’d been doing his job instead of hitting the golf course or yakking it up with his glitzy pals at late night bull sessions. The ad hominem attacks would never stop, and all the tangled threads of incompetence and failure would be endlessly and expertly picked at in long New Yorker articles, NYT thumbsuckers, and chin-strokings on all the Sabbath gasbag shows…

But luckily for Team Obama, the mainstream press would rather die than subject liberal Democrats to the critiques it reserves for the GOP. So instead, as Libya writhes in agony, reputations and careers move on. The news is so bad, and the President’s foreign policy is collapsing on so many fronts, that it is impossible to keep the story off the front pages. “Smart diplomacy” has become a punch line, and the dream Team Obama had of making Democrats the go-to national security party is as dead as the passenger pigeon. But what the press can do for the White House it still, with some honorable exceptions, labors to accomplish: it will, when it must, report the dots. But it will try not to connect them, and it will do what it can to let all the people involved in the Libya debacle move on to the next and higher stage of their careers.

***

There is no ceasefire in Gaza because a ceasefire is in no one’s interest. Israel’s objective is clear: degrade Hamas’ capability to fire rockets at Israeli civilians and attack Israeli communities from underground. As for Hamas, its interest is irrational, macabre, and deranged, but no less obvious: Promote itself as the leader of the worldwide struggle against Zionism and Judaism, while ensuring collateral damage that will foment outrage at Israel. That is why Hamas stores weapons in schools, why its military headquarters is in the basement of a hospital. Hamas is not interested in minimizing pain. Hamas wants to maximize it.

Obama’s attitude toward Israel’s problems, and the world’s, is really just a particularly snobbish version of the generic American position on Old World religious and political dilemmas.

When we see these conflicts around the world, we often sympathize with the afflicted, and we like to help them when we count them among our friends and allies. What we do not like to do is feel as if we are being ensnared in complex fights revolving around age-old hatreds, regardless of how forceful our military presence is in the world.

Barack Obama’s fundamental disconnect from Israel and the world chimes too closely with America’s traditional wariness of foreign dramas to come across as truly anti-Semitic in substance. Yet, in style, his insufferably priggish attitude is so at odds with ours that he has made himself a target for ideological scorn, and it’s no surprise Obama retreats ever deeper into his cosmopolitan bubble.

***

People looking at the world today are, I think rightfully, seeing something of a parallel with confusions of a century ago. In the last weeks and months, what a crowding and a tangling of events we have seen. And we have seen, too, how, just like a hundred years ago, an event in one place has its connection and impact in others. A jet shot down over Ukraine has a consequence for Israel a week later…

The West has had some peace since the last great war, almost 70 years of it now. And we have had with that peace an astounding march of technological and material progress. Both tend to make people forgetful of worse times. It renders them careless of the foundations upon which peace is first secured and then maintained, and nourishes the delusion they are exempt from the horrors and perils that have been a constant in human affairs.

Conservatives say Obama thinks he’s king. But they seem to confuse him with God.

It’s easy to forget that planet Earth has always been a turbulent locale. During the Reagan administration, often fondly recalled as a golden age, there was endless strife hither and yon: civil wars in Central America; Americans taken hostage in Lebanon; a U.S. military barracks blown up in Beirut; and Libyan terrorists bombing a Pan Am plane…

Yet the belief persists that the difference between a bad outcome and a good outcome is a willingness by the U.S. government to exercise leadership or show toughness or otherwise get involved. In practice, our interventions often exact a terribly high price for a dismal result. If there are two ways to get a dismal result, maybe we should choose the one that doesn’t cost us thousands of lives or billions of dollars.

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Joe Carr is surging in the primay race to unseat the Common Core & climate change pushing amnesty shill Senator Lamar Alexander in Tennessee on August 7th. Remember, Alexander was one of just a handful of traitorous Republicans to vote for Rubio’s bill. And like Rubio, Alexander had said that he wouldn’t do that. Not good.

Carr is running a campaign very similar to the one that led to the surprise defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on June 10th. Cantor faced lesser known opponent Dave Brat and outspent him 25-to-1. Near the end of the campaign in Virginia, Brat received support from Tea Party groups and conservative radio personalities -— particularly Laura Ingraham, who campaigned on his behalf. He also used the issue of immigration reform as a focal point for his campaign.

So Joe Carr has made a dramatic gain in the last weeks: previously down by 24, and now in a poll by the same group he is down by only 8 and surging! And this despite an all out advertising blitz by Alexander.

We can do this people. We can beat Lamar. And this victory, combined with the Cantor loss, will make it clear as day that bogus polls supposedly showing support among Republicans for amnesty are pure baloney. And more national attention is helping Carr. So bloggers, let’s start paying more attention to this race in its final days.

AJ,
Regarding China: While the world is going crazy, I’ve been keeping tabs on how China has been irritating the lands around the Sea of Japan. Also, the discovery of sub bases adding up on the islands. BING has pictures if you do a search. Not able to link here for some reason. It’s bothering the heck out of me that they are building up their military, as we tear down ours.

The violence in Libya that caused U.S. embassy personnel to flee the country on Saturday is partly due to President Obama’s inability to bring calm to the region, key Republican members of Congress said on Saturday.

Inability? How do we know, the guy hasn’t been on the job a day since he was elected in 2008. Come to think of it, what indication is there that has an interest in tamping down the violence in Libya and bringing stability to the country? Show me sometihng he’s done to do so and, no speeches and comments made by Barry or from his gaggle of stooges in the White House don’t count.

Hell, they had no interest in protecting Ambassador Stevens or even trying to rescue him or the others caught up in the attack in Benghazi. To me, that doesn’t show anything as to ability and everything as to interest, possibly to the point of wanting something as bad as what happened to actually occur.

The man is pathetic. He’s not even president as far as I am concerned and ought to be impeached convicted and run out of DC on a rail.

From what I’ve read and will try to remember… they disassembled it in the 1950’s from it’s original site and stored it for ten years at the Brooklyn Museum. They built a room to fit the original full scale two room structure (over the years additional rooms had been added). They had it on one floor of the museum then moved it to a different floor.
Long story short. (Will omit the multiple “Greats” in the great grandfathers). Grandfather and brings over two sons and a daughter. Jan is one son, my branch of grandfathers start with his brother Roeluf. Jan’s house passes thru many family members and lands in British Major Moncrief hands. My grandfather Roeluf’s great grand son, Lt. John Schenck snuck in from New Jersey and captured Moncrief along with a couple other prizes.
Cool.

Sorry tired. Capture story during American Revolution. It was 1650 when grandfather brought over two sons and daughter, grandfather actually died on the voyage over. Sons ended up owning lots of acreage , mills, docks for shipping. This was on Long Island in an area called the Flatlands.

No, I haven’t. I only knew of my mother’s side of family history which began with the early 1900’s massive immigration of Europeans. Didn’t realize we were Blue Bloods until a couple years ago. (Parents divorced when I was ten, didn’t know father’s history that well.) Schenks go back to 960 and a Baron for a grandfather in Holland. I knew carpentry ran in the family for the past four generations. The Jans house was one of many Schenck homes built, but the only one to survive.

Regarding China: While the world is going crazy, I’ve been keeping tabs on how China has been irritating the lands around the Sea of Japan. Also, the discovery of sub bases adding up on the islands. BING has pictures if you do a search. Not able to link here for some reason. It’s bothering the heck out of me that they are building up their military, as we tear down ours.

31giddyup on July 28, 2014 at 3:22 AM

Yeah, the stuff with China and Japan is scary, as China seems to be instigating it, and if they go to war that would be major bad in today’s world. Yeah, and China is getting aggressive with nuclear energy development, space exploration, and yes, their military, while we are kicking ourselves in our own rear as far as energy because of the leftist fantasy of global warming er “climate change.” Insane.

G2M,
Evidently, Roeluf and Jan were 2 of the 6 or 7 wealthiest men at the time. Due to the huge number of children families back then the acreage and wealth was passed along. My branch ended up in Wisconsin and lots of land was bought up there.

31
not really 31..
but the fact is (like many of the topics you mentioned) he didn’t even try..

he could have given the Vets vouchers for any hospital to get the care they need.. he didn’t even try..
he could have sent troops to secure the crash site… he didn’t even try.
he could shut down the southern border.. but he wont try..
no ideas …no solutions… no results Barry…
“yes we can” has turned into “not a chance”

no ideas …no solutions… no results Barry…
“yes we can” has turned into “not a chance”

going2mars on July 28, 2014 at 4:25 AM

G2M – Back when his name started to appear in print and his campaign took off, I kept hearing “transforming of America” (or close to it). I kept listening for “how and what into”. Never heard it. He promised everything to everyone, which was also a red flag. Everyone keeps saying how incompetent he is. He is not. He’s destroying America which has been his (and his co-horts) intentions all along. One World Oder.

Back when his name started to appear in print and his campaign took off, I kept hearing “transforming of America” (or close to it). I kept listening for “how and what into”. Never heard it. He promised everything to everyone, which was also a red flag. Everyone keeps saying how incompetent he is. He is not. He’s destroying America which has been his (and his co-horts) intentions all along. One World Oder.

31giddyup on July 28, 2014 at 4:34 AM

that is so well put…Id just repeat it…so I did… :)

I was hoping to spend a life time thinking Jimmy Carter
was as bad as it was going to get… boy was I wrong..

Retweeted by Israel Foreign Min.
Mark Regev @MarkRegevPMO · 14h
Video: PM Netanyahu on FNS “They violated even their own cease-fire… They are shooting at us as we speak.” http://youtu.be/z9hEWtROS4o
=============

Ukraine, Russia political crisis
4m
International police team fails to reach the crash site of a Malaysian Airlines plane for a 2nd day running as clashes rage in a town on the road to the area – @AP
End of alert

Ukraine, Russia political crisis
24m
Editor’s note: @AP reports a Ukrainian security spokesman has said data from the recovered flight data recorders shows Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed due to a massive, explosive loss of pressure after being punctured multiple times by shrapnel – Grace
End of note

Maddie (not even half)bright shows once again just what a stupid idiot she is. Keep in mind this was the gal who thinks every nation should have nukes so that nobody will use them (i.e. North Korea and Iran will show restraint if they become nuclear nations).

So…. When it comes to our current mess, it isn’t the fault of the lazy stupid rat-eared wonder, Killary, or Kerry. It isn’t even the fault of he own half-assed efforts. NO! The world is a mess because of Woodrow Wilson!

BREAKING: International police team abandons effort to reach Ukraine crash site as heavy fighting erupts.

canopfor on July 28, 2014 at 6:35 AM

Dude, that was like two weeks ago. Dead story!

Seriously, I’m not really sure what an international police team is going to do at the crash site after it has been so compromised. Reportedly, the “rebels” have looted the bodies and are using cell phones of the victims.

Editor’s note: @AP reports a Ukrainian security spokesman has said data from the recovered flight data recorders shows Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed due to a massive, explosive loss of pressure after being punctured multiple times by shrapnel – Grace
End of note

canopfor on July 28, 2014 at 6:25 AM

So, I’m guessing that the missile theory is holding up as the cause of the crash.

There’s a difference here. Obama is a single human being (I use the term loosely). A lazy stupid good for nothing rat-eared bastard but an individual nonetheless. Republicans are a group. I’d bet that individual Republicans poll higher than the group just as Dems are unpopular as a group but we still see the return of the foulest most disgusting of the lot each and every election cycle.

BTW, this is the week we see the changing of the RINO guard as Cantor steps down from his role as Majority Leader to be replaced by a clone.

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 27, 2014

Readout of the President’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel

President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke again today by phone about the situation in Gaza. The President underscored the United States’ strong condemnation of Hamas’ rocket and tunnel attacks against Israel and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself. The President also reiterated the United States’ serious and growing concern about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives, as well as the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Building on Secretary Kerry’s efforts, the

President made clear the strategic imperative of instituting an immediate,

unconditional humanitarian ceasefire that ends hostilities now and leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities based on the November 2012 ceasefire agreement.

The President reaffirmed the United States’ support for Egypt’s initiative, as well as regional and international coordination to end hostilities. The President underscored the enduring importance of ensuring Israel’s security, protecting civilians, alleviating Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, and enacting a sustainable ceasefire that both allows Palestinians in Gaza to lead normal lives and addresses Gaza’s long-term development and economic needs, while strengthening the Palestinian Authority. The President stressed the U.S. view that, ultimately, any lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must ensure the disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarization of Gaza.

Speaking of which, I just read an article about the possible demise of David Gregory on Press the Meat. Not a surprise other than the fact that there is speculation that Mika and Joe are being considered as replacements.

But there have been really two huge game changers and one is Putin’s behavior vis-a-vis first Crimea and now towards Ukraine and a completely new behavior by Russia. And the other is what is happening in the Middle East, alot due to the Arab awakening and also the artificiality of the borders that were established after World War I. So, these are huge game changers and we are — a lot of Americans are trying to figure out where the countries are. Most Americans knew very little about Islam and certainly did not know the difference between Shia and Sunni. So, there are an awful lot of things that are going on that need understanding and explanation but to put it mildly, the world is a mess

Albright is surprised about Putin’s behavior? Really?

Secondly, she clearly has contempt for Americans who, apparantly are too damned stupid to find Israel on a map, don’t know a thing about Islam, and just don’t get the nuances that super smart people like the rat-eared wonder do.

I spent all day at the hospital. Its a good hospital and it wasn’t crowded but you know how it is. You have to wait for somebody to come and take you rinformation. Then you wait for your turn for the blood person. Then you for your turn for the xray. They you wait until someone reads all those things and there are some ahead of you.

Anyway I don’t have appendicitis. I don’t have an infection. They thought it might be a hernia but decided that wasn’t it. They said go to the family doctor which I should have done in the first place.